Have you heard of 30-60-90 Day Plans? Simply put, this kind of plan is an outline of what action steps you plan to take in the first 3 months of your new job. You research and create it before you go to the interview. During the interview, you talk over your plan with the interviewer / hiring manager.

In this post, I’m going to show you 7 reasons you absolutely need to bring your own 30-60-90-day plan to your very next job interview. In fact, my best advice to you is: never go to another interview without one.

When I first mention these plans to job seekers, I say, “Take a plan to your first interview.” You don’t want to take a chance with getting cut from consideration, so bring you’re ‘A’ game from the beginning. The job seeker typically responds with, “How can I make a plan if I don’t know what the job is or if I haven’t worked at that company?”

The answer is, “You have to do some research.” Look up information about the job and the company. Ask your network for help, too. Then put on your critical thinking cap and imagine yourself doing this job. What will you need to do in order to make sure you’re successful?

Let’s look at why this is so important and then how to make it easier.

Here are 7 reasons why this matters so much, and why a 30-60-90-Day Plan will get you hired:

1) Making a plan shows off your work ethic—which gets you hired.

Hiring you (or anyone) is a risk for the company. They can make an educated guess as to what kind of employee you’d be, but they can’t really know until you get there.

By doing this work to create a plan before you even have an offer, you show them that you’re someone who’s not afraid to work. You’re doing something that isn’t required, but it helpful to your success.

It clearly demonstrates what they can look forward to with you—having someone who is take-charge, thoughtful, focused, and dedicated to success.

2) The research will make sure you are better prepared for this interview than anyone else—which gets you hired.

Think about what happens when you intensively research the job and/or the company before you walk into your first interview: you have a much better understanding of what their problems are and how they do things. You clearly see what they need.

That means that your interview answers can be laser-focused on how you’ll help them. Every one of your answers will help to sell you for the job.

Creating a plan means that you are prioritizing tasks and setting goals. You know what should be done, what should come first, and you know how you’re going to get there. These are highly desirable ‘soft skills’ for employers, no matter what industry you’re in.

I even got a great email from someone who interviewed with a company that had no formal training program (they knew they needed one, but hadn’t gotten it done). They were so impressed with this person’s plan, they hired him and used his plan as the new training program for all new hires!

4) It highlights your communication skills—which gets you hired.

Communication skills are the #1 ‘soft skill’ that are most in-demand by employers today. When you have a plan and you walk the interviewer through your ideas, you’re throwing out ideas, asking questions, and getting feedback. You’re having a conversation at a much higher communication level than any other candidate.

5) It shows your knowledge of the job—which gets you hired.

This is a critical piece if you don’t have much experience. Employers don’t want to take a chance that you won’t know what you’re doing, or that you’ll get in over your head. A plan demonstrates that you are fully capable, even if you haven’t done this job before.

I’ve seen many people who beat out more experienced candidates by using a plan. It wasn’t personality and it wasn’t connections—it was only the power of the plan.

6) It shows your interest in the job—which gets you hired.

I’ve worked with hundreds of hiring managers over the years as a recruiter. As a rule, they want to hire people who are excited to work for them and their company.

Bringing a plan makes it seem as if you are so excited that you can’t wait to get started on this job. They’ll realize that you took time to learn these details. They’ll see your interest when you ask smart, thoughtful questions. You’ll build rapport much more easily than your competition.

7) It allows the hiring manager to take you for a ‘test drive’—which gets you hired.

You know how car dealers don’t really spend a lot of time talking to you about a new car before they’re offering you a test drive? The reason they do that is because if you drive the car, you’re more likely to buy it. This is an important concept for your 30-60-90-day plan.

The job search itself is a sales process. In this case, the hiring manager is the customer and you’re the car. If they ‘try you out’ by talking through what you’d do on the job, they can visualize it. They get comfortable with it. They are much more likely to offer you the job.